Why are religious people fatter than non-religious?

Arts & Sciences Religion & Spirituality
1

So, do you believe the results of this study may be correct or not?

[quote]study, conducted by researchers at Northwestern University, found that young adults who frequently attended religious activities were far more likely to become obese than those who didn’t.

“Our main finding was that people with a high frequency of religious participation in young adulthood were 50 percent more likely to become obese by middle age than those with no religious participation in young adulthood,” . . .

that is true even after we adjusted for variables like age, race, gender, education, income, and baseline body mass index," [/quote]
msnbc.msn.com/id/42256829/ns … nutrition/

and, if the results are accurate, what’s the reason?

  • Religious people tend to be wimpier and less outdoorsy/athletic?
  • Religious people tend to care less about looking attractive to potential sexual partners?
  • Religious people tend to care less about life on this planet (because they think the next life is what’s important)?
  • Religious people tend to care less about their bodies, because they believe/rationalize that the soul is what really matters?
  • Religious people tend to have less personal drive, because they think God will take care of them so they needn’t put out the effort?

I’m not trying to cast judgment on anyone, just wondering why religious people might be fatter than others. What do you think?

2

And why do we have bigger dicks?

3

The lord works in strange and mysterious ways?

4

There are plenty of poorly designed studies out there with findings that are not replicated under proper conditions. We shouldn’t assume the results of a particular study such as this are reliable or valid without closer inspection. Did this get into a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal, which is indicative of higher quality?
Apparently not: it was merely presented at a meeting (which is not the same thing).

Were the effects of other variables such as ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status controlled for properly? Apparently: [quote]“And that is true even after we adjusted for variables like age, race, gender, education, income, and baseline body mass index[/quote]

Have other studies found similar results?

:ponder:

5

Fellowship.
(After service coffee and sweets.)

6

communion must be high in calories?

7

It’s all true. Except sometimes I run across a slammin’ hot Christian girl and think “I would #@$%! the ba-Jesus out of her!”

T

8

As a fat atheist, does this make me an outlier? Do I need to find God, or lose weight?

9

As atheist outliers, you and I definitely need to avoid those church social potlucks! :laughing:

10

No! You just need to pray harder. :no-no:

Or not. Heck, I don’t understand how these things work.

11

Blessed are the generously proportioned.

12

The sleek shall inherit the earth.

13

As atheist outliers, you and I definitely need to avoid those church social potlucks! :laughing:[/quote]

There are quite a few of us. This research may be flawed.

One thing is for sure, there are many ways to find enweightenment.

14

As atheist outliers, you and I definitely need to avoid those church social potlucks! :laughing:[/quote]
And me!

15

[quote=“Mother Theresa”]So, do you believe the results of this study may be correct or not?

[quote]study, conducted by researchers at Northwestern University, found that young adults who frequently attended religious activities were far more likely to become obese than those who didn’t.

“Our main finding was that people with a high frequency of religious participation in young adulthood were 50 percent more likely to become obese by middle age than those with no religious participation in young adulthood,” . . .
[/quote]
[/quote]

It is wrong to equate religious people with people who frequently participate in religious activities. In fact, such people may well constitute a minority of religious people. Most of India is religious, but it tends to take the form of simple personal rituals rather than frequent attendance of organised activities.

I guess the study was mainly about going to church on Sunday or not. Americans tend to lead sedentary lifestyles. So, if the only chance you have to do something physical is on the weekends, and instead of going for a Sunday bike ride, you go to church, then of course you’re more likely to be overweight.

16

[quote=“adikarmika”][quote=“Mother Theresa”]So, do you believe the results of this study may be correct or not?

[quote]study, conducted by researchers at Northwestern University, found that young adults who frequently attended religious activities were far more likely to become obese than those who didn’t.

“Our main finding was that people with a high frequency of religious participation in young adulthood were 50 percent more likely to become obese by middle age than those with no religious participation in young adulthood,” . . .
[/quote]
[/quote]

It is wrong to equate religious people with people who frequently participate in religious activities. In fact, such people may well constitute a minority of religious people. Most of India is religious, but it tends to take the form of simple personal rituals rather than frequent attendance of organised activities.

I guess the study was mainly about going to church on Sunday or not. Americans tend to lead sedentary lifestyles. So, if the only chance you have to do something physical is on the weekends, and instead of going for a Sunday bike ride, you go to church, then of course you’re more likely to be overweight.[/quote]
No one is taking this seriously okay?? Fortigurn hasn’t posted here yet so chill. The study is a bunch of crap, I dare say.

17

My post was serious:
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … 5#p1275445](Why are religious people fatter than non-religious?
And like you, I doubt the findings, which is just healthy skepticism on my part as someone with extensive scientific training.

18

I’m not exactly the skinniest guy on the planet.

But I am considerably less chunky than YouTube’s TheAmazingAtheist. And Matt Dillahunty isn’t a beanpole either, it seems (though I usually only see him sitting down behind a table in his videos).

19

[quote=“divea”][quote=“adikarmika”][quote=“Mother Theresa”]So, do you believe the results of this study may be correct or not?

[quote]study, conducted by researchers at Northwestern University, found that young adults who frequently attended religious activities were far more likely to become obese than those who didn’t.

“Our main finding was that people with a high frequency of religious participation in young adulthood were 50 percent more likely to become obese by middle age than those with no religious participation in young adulthood,” . . .
[/quote]
[/quote]

It is wrong to equate religious people with people who frequently participate in religious activities. In fact, such people may well constitute a minority of religious people. Most of India is religious, but it tends to take the form of simple personal rituals rather than frequent attendance of organised activities.

I guess the study was mainly about going to church on Sunday or not. Americans tend to lead sedentary lifestyles. So, if the only chance you have to do something physical is on the weekends, and instead of going for a Sunday bike ride, you go to church, then of course you’re more likely to be overweight.[/quote]
No one is taking this seriously okay?? Fortigurn hasn’t posted here yet so chill. The study is a bunch of crap, I dare say.[/quote]
Oh, please.
If that’s the standard, then let’s just give up the ghost right on in.

I dare some folk need to read more themselves than be swept usunder by the jowls of others.~~~To be on topic, that folks that rely on the mental will of another, a deity, or otherwise, are more often that not less inclined to exercise some of their own.
I know, as I live in Fat City, wherein all the religious geezers are plump, as compared to their flock, which is only borderline rotund, until they settle down, which is when the obesity gathers force.

20

I worship the cheeseburger.